Job Type: Full-Time 

Location: Abuja, Nigeria

Programme Type: Government Intervention

Job Summary

Our organisation is an initiative designed to coordinate service exports at a national level. Its primary focus is on the export of services and talent by leveraging Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) structures. The organization operates through three foundational pillars to achieve its objectives:

• Enabling Environment: Creating conditions that allow service companies to thrive, ensuring regulatory and infrastructural support for growth in the sector.
• International Demand Aggregation: Consolidating and responding to demand from international markets for Nigerian talent and service exports.
• Supply of Local Talent Pool: Developing and maintaining a robust pool of local talent capable of meeting global service export requirements.

By implementing these pillars, the organization aims to achieve the ambitious goal of generating over one million service exports by the year 2030, with a projected contribution of over US$10 billion to the Nigerian economy.

Job Description

Role Summary: The Partnership Lead is responsible for building and managing strategic partnerships that advance the organizatio’s mandate to create 1 million in-demand jobs through services and talent exports, and to position Nigeria as a leading global hub for service exports and talent sourcing.

The role will design and drive a coordinated partnership agenda across public, private and civil society actors on both the demand side (global and regional employers, buyers, platforms, investors) and the supply side (talent, training providers, BPO firms, incubators, MSMEs), as well as enabling business environment actors (regulators, trade and investment agencies, digital economy institutions, development partners).

Key Responsibilities – Partnership Strategy & Ecosystem Building

• Develop and periodically update a Partnership Strategy that aligns with:
  • The organization s objectives and strategic pillars (outsourcing & talent export, talent development, infrastructure & innovation, partnerships & sustainability, policy support).

○ Nigeria’s emerging national digital trade and services export strategies under AfCFTA and related protocols

• Map and maintain a dynamic database of key ecosystem actors across:
  • Supply side: skills & training providers, universities, TVET centres, talent platforms, BPO and IT-enabled services firms, incubators/accelerators, business support organisations.

○ Demand side: foreign employers, outsourcing firms, global platforms, regional and global buyers, chambers of commerce, diaspora networks, multilaterals and DFIs.

○ Enabling environment: regulators, trade and investment agencies, digital economy institutions, standards bodies, development partners.

• Design frameworks, templates and standard operating procedures (SoPs) for MoUs, partnership agreements, joint workplans, and coalitions that can be used across the organization’s pillars.
• Identify and prioritise high-impact partnership opportunities (e.g. outsourcing destination branding, talent pipelines for specific sectors, pilot projects in BPO, e-commerce, digital health, fintech, creative & digital media, etc.).
• Negotiate and operationalise: Talent placement pipelines (G2G and G2B) for the organization’s beneficiaries, Partnerships for on-the-job training, apprenticeships and internships, Outsourcing and export contracts that can be linked to the organization’s s 1 million jobs target.
• Engage with investors (VCs, DFIs, impact investors, corporates) to position the organization’s -linked ventures and BPO ecosystems as investable opportunities, in line with Nigeria’s technology and digital trade investment frameworks
• Forge partnerships with civil society organisations, youth and women networks, disability organisations, and community-based groups to ensure inclusive access to opportunities, especially for women, youth and persons living with disabilities
• Lead the design of concept notes, funding proposals and partnership pitches to mobilise:

Domestic            public    resources,          Development    partner                 and        donor    funding Private sector and blended finance, In-kind contributions (e.g. curriculum, platforms, mentors, infrastructure).

Key Deliverables / Performance Indicators: Indicative (to be adapted to HR framework):

● Approved Partnership Strategy and annual partnership workplan.

• Functional stakeholder and partnership mapping across demand, supply, and enabling environment actors.
• Number and quality of strategic MoUs/agreements signed and actively implemented.
• Volume of jobs, internships or placements facilitated through partnerships
• Amount of resources mobilised (financial and in-kind) in support of the organization’s programmes.
• Number (and effectiveness) of multi-stakeholder platforms convened and maintained (e.g.

technical working groups, coordination mechanisms).

• Documented policy inputs and reforms supported through partnership processes.
• Regular partnership performance reports and case studies produced and disseminated.

Job Requirements

• 10+ Years in partnerships, business development, investment or donor relations
• Experience in digital economy, BPO/ITES, or talent ecosytems
• Strong communication, negotiation ans stakeholder engagement skills
• proven ability to attract funding and drive collaborative projects